


Overwatch Plays Pathfinder

by PumpkinFullOfKnives



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, That's the main party/DMs, but there are more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinFullOfKnives/pseuds/PumpkinFullOfKnives
Summary: Pathfinder: A game that is like D&D, except more so.Overwatch: A ragtag band of heroes who really should have something better to do, but don't.





	Overwatch Plays Pathfinder

Winston made a point of keeping tabs on Talon, organized crime, global politics, and anything else that might go wrong. Ever since his recall of the remaining Overwatch agents, things were busy. Old members returning, new recruits being brought in, fighting with terrorist groups like Talon - everything was hectic. At least, until recently.

For last several weeks, things have been in a lull. The powerful Shimada criminal family had fallen to pieces after Genji’s brother Hanzo abdicated leadership of the clan two months back. There had not been a peep from Talon for nearly a month, after they fought off Reaper and some of his henchpeople in Illios. Vishkar was still powerful and rich, but they were still reeling from the recent uprising in Rio.

It should have been relaxing, a much needed respite from the fighting. He could have been working on exciting new science experiments. Well, he was, actually, but not on as many experiments as he could.

Winston hated to admit it, but the conclusion was unavoidable - he was bored. Perhaps he could find some suitable way to keep himself and the rest of Overwatch entertained in the lull between missions.

If only he could think of something.

* * *

Hana Song was a girl of many talents, some more obvious than others. It was widely known, for example, that she was the best Starcraft player in the world, as well as the best MEKA pilot. Less well-known was her penchant for tabletop role-playing games, a hobby she hadn’t been able to partake in for quite some time, due in large part to a lack of people to partake with.

She’d considered asking around the base to see if anyone was willing to learn Dungeons & Dragons, but she doubted she could get enough people. There were a couple of problems.

Problem one was that most of the other members of Overwatch were old, ( _76, ugh_ ), boring ( _Fareeha, ugh_ ), old and boring ( _Torbjorn, double ugh_ ), or far too crazy ( _Junkrat. Why did Winston even hire him?_ ). Truly, it was a struggle for her to get by. She doubted many would be interested in roleplaying games anyway, besides possibly Lucio. Lucio was cool.

( _Unbelievably cool_ , she thought to herself. She still was in awe of him joining Overwatch after giving Vishkar the sonic equivalent of a middle finger raised high for all the world to see.)

Ahem. Anyway.

Problem two was that apparently D&D 11th edition had recently come out, and it had gone thrown all the rules she was familiar with out the window.

Problem three was that all her 10.5th edition books were _still in Korea_.

Oh well. She was getting bored enough these days that it was worth a shot to try and set it up anyway. After all, she might as well use the attempt as a way to talk to Lucio more. And if she actually could find a capable Dungeon Master in Overwatch, she would enjoy _crushing_ them.

She played to win, after all.

* * *

The newest member of Overwatch was in his quarters, listening to music. He’d put out a new album shortly after kicking Vishkar out of Rio, a month or so back. To say it was a hit would be understatement. Lucio had apparently made himself into a celebrity in the process of leading his revolt against Vishkar. He was suddenly rich, famous, influential - and he had no idea what to do about it. He wondered how the media would react when they eventually heard he’d joined Overwatch, which was still quite illegal. Then again, his uprising against Vishkar hadn’t been legal at all either. Necessary, but not legal.

Closing his eyes, he tried to take his mind off all that, listening to some of the classics. He was lying on his bed and taking in the sweet sounds of Boards of Canada when he was interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door.

Pausing _Geogaddi_ , he took off his headset, and called out to whoever was knocking. “Hey, who is it out there? You can come in, y’know!”

The door slid open to reveal D.Va. He knew her actual name was Hana Song, but he couldn’t help but think of her as D.Va. She was world-famous for her heroics fighting the giant omnic in the East China Sea, even before she joined Overwatch. Lucio didn’t follow professional gaming - he was too busy listening to _all the music_ \- but even he knew she was some sort of computer gaming superstar as well.

As he saw her enter his room, he sat up on his bed immediately.

“Oh, what’s up D.Va?”

“Not much, Lucio. It’s boring around here lately, last real action we got was when we were helping you out in Rio. Been dull since. Not that you’re boring! Not that at all, just it’s been quiet. Nothing happening around base. Been trying to think of something we could do to pass some time between missions.”

Lucio raised an eyebrow. “You have something in mind already, don’t you?”

D.Va grinned in a way that could best be described as “maniacal”. _Guess she does have something planned._

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” she replied, snapping back to “normal” mode. “I’d like to get a regular game night going here.”

“Wait, do you mean like computer gaming? Aren’t you one of the best computer gamers on earth? Seems like it’d be a bit one-sided.”

Lucio noticed her expression change about midway through the sentence. She’d seemed nervous before, but now D.Va looked almost angry. Her tone was sharp, but controlled, as if he’d gravely insulted her honor by accident.

“No. Not one of. _I am the best_. Period. Last up-and coming hotshot to try to take me on got owned so hard he almost _fled the country in shame_. The previous dozen or so have similarly embarrassing stories.” D.Va then took a deep breath in and out, composing herself, and continued on, calmly. “We’re not doing computer games. I don’t have any desire to completely destroy you. But I was thinking maybe tabletop gaming? Would you be interested?”

Lucio tried not to visibly react to D.Va getting defensive about being the best at computer gaming, but he suspected he’d failed. “Uh. Sure?”

“Great! Looking forward to gaming with you, Lucio!”

With a cheerful grin, D.Va turned and walked out of his room.

Lucio waited a couple minutes before he googled _what is tabletop gaming?_

* * *

Once back in her room, Hana put her head in her hands. _Dammit, I sure made an ass of myself in there, she thought. He probably hates me now. Uggggghhh. At least he agreed to play. Now to see if we can find a DM and some other players…_

* * *

 Lena Oxton was on her usual jog through the halls of the watchpoint.

_Should be nice to see Em over the messenger after my jog, see how she’s doing-_

Her thought was cut short by the humming sound of laser-skates catching up to her current position. “Hey Lena, exercise hall not big enough?”.

“Oi, Lucio! You actually took your headset off for once?”, she retorted.

“Yeah, after God’s gift to gaming barged into my room.” said Lucio.

“D.Va, eh? What's she on about now?”

“She wants to put together some kind of board game….thing, and I have no idea how to play.”

“Board game?” asked Lena.

“Yeah, said it’s a ‘Tabletop’ game, couldn’t make any sense of it on the net, you know anything about it?” asked the DJ.

“Ah, I think I remember Em sayin’ something bout a game she played back in University...” she trailed off.

Lucio’s face lit up with hope. “What’d she say?”

Tracer shrugged. “I don’t honestly recall, but I think she enjoyed it. Did Hana say what specific game she was planning to play?”

“Um. Y’know, I don’t actually think she did.”

Tracer laughed. “Well, I’m interested in giving it a try, whatever it is. Let me know, ok?”

* * *

Hana didn’t want to be the Dungeon Master. That would be unfair to the players, and besides, it would be too easy for her to wreck them. A challenge worthy of her skill would be, as a player character, wrecking every plan the DM set and powerhousing her way through the campaign, winning all things and making her character unbeatable. She was fairly sure that was doable for her. It’s not Starcraft, but it’s still a game, and she would win it.

“It” being whatever version of the game they played, which was still up in the air.

Running through her list of potential candidates for a worthy Dungeon Master in Overwatch, only one name really came to mind. Winston was the gorilla behind the recall of overwatch, a scientist and a leader.

She did the math in her head. Scientist = highly intelligent professional nerd. Nerds had a high probability of liking complex games. Winston had the leadership skills and intellect and likely geekdom to make a good DM. It could work. _The only other possible DM for this is dead, so it’d better work_ , she thought.

Hana remembered reading about the 2nd in command of Overwatch in the old days, Ana Amari, in her classes in school. She’d come up in conversation about week back with 76, who’d described her as “a cunning fighter, terrifying sniper, and, honestly, a bit of a dork.”

Curious, she’d asked him for details. After some more prying from Hana, and some sullen grumbling from the old soldier, 76 had said, visibly exasperated, “I don’t want to speak ill of the departed, but if you must know, she was actually a complete dork. As in, she could quote most of the script of old action flicks like _Fury Road_ , and, frankly I would have been only mildly surprised if I’d heard she secretly had been going LARPing with Reinhardt on weekends. She tried to keep it all low-key, though. Ask Fareeha or maybe Reinhardt if you want any details, I didn’t pry into what she did in her free time.”

It occurred to her that perhaps Fareeha might be interested. There was a chance she was a closet geek like her mother had been. If so, she hid it well - Fareeha Amari seemed, from the brief interactions Hana had had with her, like a stoic, serious, and generally unapproachable badass. Hana respected Fareeha, to be sure - but she doubted they had much in common besides being soldiers who joined Overwatch. Fareeha had certainly seen more combat than Hana, and probably not by a small margin. It was doubtful she’d take any interest in gaming.

Still… it was worth a shot.

* * *

Fareeha Amari was in the break room, sipping tea and making small talk with Angela, when Hana Song and Soldier 76 walked in. 76 grabbed some coffee from the pot, and Hana walked up to Fareeha and, with a knowing smirk on her face, asked to talk with her about her mother.

“What about her?” Fareeha asked, as her thoughts switched from admiring Angela’s beauty to a frantic _Shit, does she know? How could she know?_

With the calm confidence of someone who thinks they have uncovered a secret, “I have sources. And these sources have _heard things._ ”

 _Shiiiiiit_ , thought Fareeha Amari, near panic. Standing, she grabbed Hana by the arm and dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“What do you know?” Fareeha asked quietly, but sharply.

“Can you confirm or deny that Ana Amari was, in fact, a nerd? And if so, did you inherit her interest in games?”

_Oh thank Allah, she doesn’t know._

“I never heard of my mother doing anything remotely nerdy,” Fareeha said, opening the break room door and walking back inside. 76 had put his coffee back, unable to drink it with his mask on.

That was when Angela spoke up.

“Really? Reinhardt told me the two of them used to do roleplaying games with Gabriel. Pathfinder, wasn’t it? Doesn’t that count?”

Fareeha’s mind took a second to process this.

“You’re kidding me. That is a joke, right?”

Angela looked surprised and amused. “She never told you? Really? She was quite the gamer, from what I hear.”

Fareeha so baffled and frustrated by the last five minutes that was about ready to scream. Actually, no. She was _exactly_ ready to scream.

“Augh! I’m going to fucking kill her, keeping secrets from her own daughter!”

Fareeha’s fuming was interrupted when she noticed a confused look on Angela’s face. Immediately after, she heard Hana ask, “Isn’t she already dead?”

Fareeha sat down on the floor, numbly. A few seconds later, she spoke, her voice quiet and strained.

“Do we have any more of those slipstream jets? I would like to volunteer to blink out of reality permanently, please.”

Angela’s face went from confusion to stunned shock, 76 went from chuckling to laughing, and Hana exclaimed “Wait, she’s actually alive?! Sweet! Can I have her number?”

Fareeha did not reply.

Hana sighed. “Angela, I think I broke your girlfriend. Sorry. Hm. Hey, you got Ana’s number, Jack?”

Soldier 76 shrugged. “No point stopping you now, I guess. It’s 555-”

Angela interrupted him, practically shrieking.

“ _Jack?!_ ”

Hana Song quietly said “Headcanon confirmed.”

* * *

Several hours later, after word spread and the fiasco died down, Winston called everyone together for a meeting in the conference room. He adjusted his glasses, and began to speak.

“Hi there, everyone. Thanks to, um, recent developments of which we’ve all heard, I’d like to start by asking if anyone knows of anyone _else_ out there who isn’t actually dead. I don’t care who. If former Director Petras didn’t actually die of cancer four years ago, let me know. If Gabriel Reyes is secretly, I don’t know, _not dead_ , or if Gerard Lacroix only _pretended_ to be stabbed to death by his wife, I want to know about it now. Anyone?”

Nobody said anything. Especially not Jack or Angela. Total silence.

Winston cleared his throat, and looked at Jack. “Commander Morrison-”, he began, but was interrupted.

“Not your commander anymore,” the old soldier gruffly corrected. “Mostly here to make sure you don’t all get yourselves killed.”

Winston let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, fine, I guess. Can someone call Ana, and inform her that we know she’s alive?”

Fareeha, grumbling in frustration, pulled out her phone and called her mother.

Fareeha’s phone rang, and at the same time, what no one there would recognize as a song from the soundtrack of _Mad Max: Fury Road_ began playing as a ringtone from right outside the door to the room.

Everyone looked at the door. As Fareeha hung up her phone, she cursed under her breath in arabic.

The door opened, revealing Ana Amari.

“Good to be back,” she said, ignoring everyone’s incredulous and exasperated looks. “Jack told me you needed a DM? I nominate Winston.”

The  ~~gorilla~~ scientist looked at Ana Amari with a look of pure bafflement. “A what?”

“Seconded!”, Hana called out. Lena was laughing near-hysterically.

“Alright, we’ll be taking five to six players. Don’t worry Winston, I’ll co-DM. We’ll be playing Pathfinder, and to anyone interested: we’ll be drawing up characters as a group this saturday, if everyone's free. Sound good?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! So I'd like to put out a request for people to let me know in comments if they play a lot of Pathfinder. I had this idea for a fic, but my friend who plays pathfinder and was gonna co-write this has been mega-busy, so I'd gladly consult with anyone else who can help come up with in-game shenanigans.
> 
> This fic was not directly inspired by arcaneadiago's D&D chapter of the Overwatch Emergency Broadcast Channel. That being said, that chapter was a fucking masterpiece, so I'll give it credit for inspiring me to keep going.


End file.
